Rosh Hashanah
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VIDEO FOR BRAIDING
CHALLAH
Marc Sussman
makes these round,
braided raisin
challahs and puts
ramekins in the
middle for honey
for Rosh Hashanah.
Nothing Better!
LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Home-baked challah
for Rosh Hashanah —
and year-round.
A
Gene Schramm measures
flour for his challah.
20
September 6 • 2018
sk Gene Schramm when he start-
ed making challah and he replies,
unhelpfully, “At least a year ago.”
His wife, Dr. Mintzi Schramm, clarifies
that he took up challah baking when he
retired as a professor of linguistics and
Semitics at the University of Michigan.
That was 29 years ago. The Schramms
live in Southfield and are longtime
members of Young Israel of Oak Park.
After experimenting with different
recipes, Schramm settled on a favorite:
his modification of the no-knead chal-
lah popularized by Jeff Hertzberg and
Zoe François in their 2007 Artisan Bread
in Five Minutes a Day. Schramm notes
the book title is a bit of an exaggeration;
it does take more than five minutes.
Watching Schramm work in the kitch-
en is an education. He works slowly, sys-
tematically, meticulously, step-by-step
with unhurried concentration. Baking
seems a mental discipline, a sort of
meditation.
Schramm says, “Now that I have given
this recipe to you, it is yours. Do with it
whatever you want. I never cheat and
withhold information about a recipe.”
Schramm feels proud that one of his
granddaughters, Nechama Werther of
Denver, bakes challah using the same
recipe.
And what does he do differently
to make challah for Rosh Hashanah?
“Nothing special,” he says. “Same thing.”
FUN WITH CHALLAH
Marc Sussman of Huntington Woods
makes a special fancy challah for Rosh
Hashanah as well as for other occasions
during the year.
Sussman retired from work as an
attorney specializing in Social Security
disability cases. He and his wife, art-
ist Lynne Avadenka, director of Signal-
Return letterpress shop in the Eastern
Market, have two sons, both chefs in
continued on page 22
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